Gifted!
by Violet Fairychild
Summary: A holiday gift exchange had sounded like such a great idea, until Kitty found out who she was buying for. Kyro oneshot, fluffy but hopefully not too OOC.


**Title:** Gifted  
**Author:** Vi (**violetfairygirl** on livejournal)  
**Prompt Table #:** Prompt Table #6 at Phase & Fire  
**Prompt:** Gift  
**Word Count:** 1,670  
**Rating:** PG  
**Timeline:** Pre X2 sometime  
**Summary:** Choosing a present was never more fraught with peril.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own X-Men, any of these characters, or much of anything, really.  
**Author's Note:** HOKAY. The rundown. I've alluded to Kitty's religion, but since I'm no expert, I just kind of left religion out of this entirely, even though it's about the holidays. Also, I based Jubilee's powers off her deleted scene from X2. **ETA: **Crystal(**muffinlover** on LJ) once again owns my soul-thanks for getting me unstuck, sweetie!  
**WARNINGS:** This got pretty sappy. Hopefully it's not too OOC. There's also a lot of eyebrow raising. I tried to dial it down, but didn't have much luck.

A holiday gift exchange had sounded like a wonderful idea. Kitty loved buying presents for other people, and what the heck-commercialism knew no religion. It wasn't like they'd asked her to sing Christmas carols while dressed as the Virgin Mary, right?

Looking at the name on the little slip of yellow paper she'd drawn from the hat in Jubilee's hands, though, Kitty changed her mind. "Actually, Jubes, I'm gonna have to pass this year-"

"Oh, come on. You already picked! Who'd you get, anyway?" Breaking her own rule about not trying to find out who anyone else had picked, Jubilee snatched the paper from Kitty's hand. "Oh. Geez-I didn't know he'd even put his name in! Guess I'll have to go make him pick…"

She handed the scrap of paper back to Kitty, who stared at it in consternation instead of taking it. "Put it back in the hat. I'm not doing it."

"You have to! What if someone already drew your name?"

"Fine! I'll draw again!"

"Not a chance. If someone finds out I let you draw twice, I'll have a hundred kids after me to do the same thing. Now _take the name, Kitty._"

Seeing the sparks that were starting to crackle in front of Jubilee's fingertips, Kitty gulped and delicately took back the paper that had "John Allerdyce" written on it in block letters.

Jubilee smiled. "Remember, there's a fifteen dollar spending limit!"

"Great," mumbled Kitty. "Where am I going to find explosives for less than fifteen dollars?"

XXXX

"John! Hey, John!" The only reply Jubilee got was a shower of sparks as John continued welding…whatever it was. "John!" Frustrated, she picked up a short piece of metal pipe that lay at her feet and chucked it at his shoulder.

"Ow!" The flame at his fingertip went out with a slight _fzzt_ when the pipe made contact. He pushed his safety goggles up on his forehead as he turned around to locate the offender. "What the hell, Sparky?"

Her lip curled a little, but she managed to keep from zapping him where he stood. "You're the last one to draw for the gift exchange."

"What gift exchange?"

"The holiday gift exchange? The one you put your name in the hat for?"

"I didn't put my name in the hat."

Rolling her eyes, Jubilee held out the last folded name slip that had been left in the hat. "Well, someone got you, so now you have to get a gift for someone else."

John took the paper with narrowed eyes, looked at the name written on it, and immediately tried to give it back. "How about I give you money and you buy the gift?"

"Because that is completely missing the point of a gift exchange! What is wrong with you people! Now you do it-" Jubilee held up her thumb and forefinger about an inch apart, and a tiny bolt of electricity sizzled between them- "or I will fry you in the shower."

John swallowed hard. "How much do I have to spend?"

"Fifteen dollars at the most!" she chirped, smiling brightly. "I knew you'd see it my way."

Turning back to his shop project, John shoved the little piece of paper that said "Kitty Pryde" in loopy handwriting into his pocket. "I hate shopping for girls," he grumbled.

XXXX

"Matches?"

"Too boring."

"Candles?"

"Too girly."

"A new Zippo?"

"Too expensive."

"Cigarettes?"

Kitty gave Rogue a quizzical look. "How am I going to get cigarettes? Besides," she added, flopping on her back on her bed, "I don't think he actually smokes."

"Well," mused Rogue, her accent drawing the simple word out into syllables, "there's always the internet?"

Kitty sighed and dragged herself over to her computer. "Do you think the search string 'what to buy for a sarcastic pyrokinetic teenage guy' would get any hits on Google?"

XXXX

"What are we doing in here?"

"I need to buy something."

"You need to buy something? John, is there something you haven't told me?"

"Shut up, Bobby, I'm shopping for a girl."

"Oh." Bobby raised a confused eyebrow. "Again-is there something you haven't told me?"

John shot him a sideways look of irritation. "I have to buy something for Kitty for the gift exchange that I didn't even put my name in for." Thinking a little more about what he'd just said, John turned his head to look menacingly at Bobby full-on. "You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

He held up his hands in mock surrender. "Do I look like I have a death wish?"

After mulling it over for a few moments, John turned his attention back to the rack in front of him and pulled his lighter out of his pocket to fidget with while he shopped. "Jewelry's probably a pretty safe bet, huh?" Seeing something sparkle in a familiar shape, he dug all the way to the back of the rack and emerged victorious with his prize. "I'll get her this."

"I don't know if Kitty's really a jewelry kind of girl," Bobby warned, eyeing the necklace that dangled from John's hand.

"So? It reminds me of her."

"That's kind of…insulting, isn't it?"

Ignoring him, John headed for the counter. "Yeah, I found what I wanted. This'll be it."

XXXX

"Okay, everyone!" Jubilee, dressed for the occasion in a red sweater and skirt with an oversized Santa hat on her head, hauled a stuffed trash bag into the dining room. "Time to hand out the gifts!"

At the mention of the word "gifts", everyone quieted down to listen for their name. Kitty tried to make herself as small in her seat as possible, chastising herself for feeling so self-conscious. _It's a gift. If he doesn't like it, so what? I'll give him the receipt and he can keep the cash._

Across the room, John found himself listening for Kitty's name, though he wasn't sure why. _She's going to hate it. Whatever-it's not like it cost that much, anyway._

When John's name was called, Kitty shrunk even further into her chair. With nervous eyes she watched him take the little red-wrapped box. She expected him to look for her when he read her name on the tag, but he only raised his eyebrows and disappeared into the back of the room. _Darn. I wanted to see him open it._

She was so busy craning her neck to see if she could locate him in the back of the room that she didn't notice the first two times her name was called. "Kitty," Theresa hissed, kicking her in the ankle. "Get your gift!"

Kitty hurried up to pick up her present, phasing through the tables in front of her to get there faster. The box Jubilee held out was small, wrapped in shiny purple paper with a red bow and held together with what looked like half a roll of Scotch tape. The bow took up almost the whole top of the box, and Kitty turned it this way and that looking for a tag.

It was stuck to the bottom, and she almost dropped the whole thing when she saw who it was from. Spotting Bobby a couple of tables behind her, she made her way over to him. "Do you know where John went?"

Bobby shook his head. "Probably outside. That's where I always find him when he disappears."

Kitty whispered her thanks and excused herself from the dining room.

XXXX

She found him on a balcony on the east wing's second floor, the unopened gift resting on the flat top of the railing in front of him. "Hey, John."

He glanced over his shoulder at her. "Hey."

"Pretty weird, huh?"

"Yeah. Weird."

"So…" she took a careful step forward, then another, keeping her feet in motion until she was standing next to him. "You going to open yours?"

He nodded at the box in her hands. "Only if you open yours."

"We'll go at the same time, then. One, two-" before she could get to three they were both shredding wrapping paper with gusto.

John got his open first, while Kitty was still struggling with the mile of tape on hers. He held it up by the ring, squinting at it in the dim lighting from the open door behind them. "What is it?"

"It's a fuel canister. For your lighter." She set down the half-unwrapped box and took it from him. "See, it holds enough in here for one refill, and there's this little rubber thing you can keep extra flints in."

"Wow." He raised an eyebrow, nodding thoughtfully. "That's-that's a really cool gift. Thanks."

"You're welcome," Kitty mumbled around the corner of wrapping paper she held in her teeth, trying to tear the last of it free. Finally all the paper was gone, and she pulled off the lid of the little white box eagerly.

She gasped when she saw what it was, pulling it out by the chain and holding it up to twinkle at her in the light. The little silver dragon pendant gleamed, wings spread and mouth agape. It wasn't something she would have picked out for herself, but she loved it. "This is-thank you. It's perfect."

John shrugged, jamming his hands down into his pockets. "It made me think of you."

She smiled at him as she reached behind her neck to fasten the clasp. "How did you know I like dragons?"

"Well, you have that dragon poster up in your room."

The smile faded a little. "You've been in my room?"

He smirked at her, enjoying her discomfort. "Maybe."

Kitty closed her eyes and shook her head. "You're a jerk."

John's smirk slid into a pursing of lips as he nodded his head. "Yeah, I'd say that's a fair assessment."

"Come on," Kitty said, taking him by the arm. "I hear there's fruitcake for dessert."

"Gee, wouldn't want to miss the fruitcake," John muttered.

He let her guide him inside anyway, though, trying to keep the bounce out of his step but not bothering to hide his smile.


End file.
